When you want to pull off a job, you need to have everything set up in advance. First, you need a plan that will work to perfection. Then, of course, you’ll need a getaway. Finally, the last thing you want involved is any kind of law enforcement. So let’s take these three books as a crash course in crime.

CAPER by Lawrence Sanders – Originally published under the name of Lesley Andress, Sanders gives us an interesting take on the writing process in this 1980 novel. The main character is Jannie Shean, a crime author who uses a male pen name to sell her books. It seems Sanders is having a bit of fun here, as this is not some hard-boiled world, but a real world where an author finds out what crime is really like.

Since Jannie’s last book was refused by her publisher, she comes up with a genius idea: Devise the perfect caper and go through all the preparation, stopping just before the actual heist and using all the newfound information for her benefit for her next book. Jannie has it all figured out in her overeducated head: She’ll disguise herself and live in a seedy rooming house, hoping to contact some willing criminals who will go through with the supposedly foolproof plan that she and her friend Dick Fleming have devised.

They find the perfect jewelry store to rob, then reality hits them square in the head by the name of Jack Donohue, a lifetime crook who is smarter then he looks. Jack leads Jannie around until he has enough with her and drops the bombshell that she won’t be able to back out of this caper. But then the other shoe drops once they put the plan into action: The last place any criminal would rob would be one that is backed by a certain group of businessmen.

This is very much a crime story, but one that is poking fun at itself. CAPER is a nice change of pace from the usual crime stuff out there. No one is going to mistake it for Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler, but it has enough punch to keep the readers glued.

THE GETAWAY (1958) by Jim Thompson – Many years ago, I was on a total Thompson kick, reading pretty much his whole output except for a few books, including this 1958 one, which has been made into two films: one that’s good and the other, which we’ll just leave alone.

The story is about a husband-and-wife bank-robbing team of Doc and Carol. Having just got out of prison, Doc has a job all planned out. The book actually opens mid-robbery with Doc’s partners finishing up the job, until Doc pulls an unexpected maneuver: killing his former partner Rudy.

Thompson sets up the story really well, with Doc being this cool and calm criminal that just can’t be thrown, while Carol is a total basket case as time goes on. We’re given flashbacks to what led up to this moment, from the faking of a divorce to throw any suspicions away from Carol to the paying off of a parole board member with a large amount of clout.

Carol and Doc travel to California, where he figures they can hide out at a friend’s, then cross the border to their final destination. But there are a few loose ends that need to be taken care of, including the parole board member who might have slept with Carol. It’s never made clear, and Doc knows it’s all part of the greater plan, but that’s not all, since the novel shows us that Rudy has survived his shooting, only wanting to exact revenge on Doc.

Thompson amps up the suspense throughout the story so well. You feel a huge gut punch once the ending hits. The couple sadly doesn’t go out in a blaze of glory – more of a whimper of regret.

COPS AND ROBBERS by Donald E. Westlake – The great thing about most of Westlake’s output is how it’s not very dated. Well, this 1972 one falls into the very dated category. It’s the story of two longtime New York City cops: one, a detective named Tom, and the other, a beat cop named Joe who’s had enough of the lifestyle and want to make a change.

Joe already has taken steps by robbing a store while still dressed for his job, figuring who the hell would dress like a cop and pull off a job. He informs Tom of this one day as they carpool into work, and this gets the gears in Tom’s mind going. What if they could pull off a job in uniform using all their resources as cops? They think of this for a while with the idea of approaching a high-ranking mob official named Vigano with a proposition that they will steal for them for a price of $2 million.

Vigano can’t tell if they are serious, but goes along with caution. The idea is for Tom to steal bearer bonds of certain denominations; all the while, Vigano tries to figure out if these two are real cops. That’s the plot in a nutshell, which leads to the dated part, since the robbery takes place during a parade for astronauts – a very ’70s setting, to be precise. You can feel the grainy film stock rolling through out the storyline, expecting to see Popeye Doyle or Frank Serpico making cameos at any point.

This is only a small problem, since the writing is so engaging you can block out the time period, with Joe and Tom having a great plan not only to rob the bonds, but to mess with the mob also. COPS is a fun excursion in the non-series Westlake bibliography, but you feel this plot easily could have been used with either of his two series characters.

I’ve never seen the movie version of this book and did not even realize one existed when I bought this, despite mention right there on the cover. I just saw the word “Westlake” and grabbed it, like any Westlake I find.

Next time: “Dirty Water” is the second-best song The Standells ever sung. –Bruce Grossman

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF LAWRENCE SANDERS:
• THE ANDERSON TAPES by Lawrence Sanders

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF DONALD E. WESTLAKE:
• ASK THE PARROT by Richard Stark
• THE AX by Donald E. Westlake
• KILLTOWN by Richard Stark
• LEMONS NEVER LIE by Richard Stark
• THE MAN WITH THE GETAWAY FACE by Richard Stark
• PITY HIM AFTERWARDS by Donald E. Westlake
• POINT BLANK by Richard Stark
• THE SOUR LEMON SCORE by Richard Stark
• 361 by Donald E. Westlake
• WHAT’S SO FUNNY? by Donald E. Westlake